lan
will divert paper sludge ash from landfill
and ease regulatory burden on business -
Proposals aimed at making it easier to recycle
paper sludge ash (PSA) and divert a minimum
300,000 tonnes per year from landfill were
today (19 December 2008) announced by the
Waste Protocols Project - a joint Environment
Agency and WRAP (Waste & Resources Action
Programme) initiative.
Now trade and industry
are being urged to comment on the draft
Quality Protocol for the manufacture of
products from PSA - the boiler ash residue
left over from burning paper sludge for
energy.
UK paper mills generate125,000
tonnes of PSA annually. Currently 70% -
or 88,000 tonnes - goes to end uses, such
as brick and cement manufacturers while
the remaining 30% is landfilled.
However, despite the
current economic downturn, the size of the
UK paper market is growing. Expansion is
planned at existing mills and two new newsprint
mills will be operating in 2009 and 2010
- potentially increasing the amount of PSA
generated significantly.
Marcus Gover, WRAP’s
Director of Market Development, said: "Sending
PSA to landfill is a waste of a potentially
useful resource. All of our research indicates
this Protocol will provide users with confidence
that the PSA they purchase conforms to agreed
quality standards and help stimulate the
market.
"PSA can be used
as a lime substitute and aggregates filler
and the Quality Protocol outlines various
ways that PSA can be recycled including
in agricultural liming, concrete blocks
and cement.
The minimum potential
market for PSA is conservatively estimated
at 300,000 tonnes per year."
Martin Brocklehurst,
the Environment Agency’s Head of Environment
Protection External Programmes, said: "It
is costing industry to landfill PSA and
we want to see this material utilised.
"By clarifying
at which point PSA ceases to be a waste
and the waste regulations no longer apply,
the Protocol will make it easier to market
and encourage greater use. It will reduce
the amount of waste sent to landfill as
well as ease the regulatory burden and costs
for businesses.
"This consultation
is an important part of the development
of the Quality Protocol and we need to hear
from a wide range of stakeholders to ensure
the final guidance is practical and delivers
benefits for both the environment and business."
To participate in the
consultation, which runs until 12 March,
2009 visit <http://qp.dialoguebydesign.net/>
For more information
on aggregates go to www.aggregain.co.uk
<http://www.aggregain.co.uk/> and
for further details about the Waste Protocols
Project visit www.environment-agency.gov.uk
<http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/>
or www.wrap.org.uk <http://www.wrap.org.uk/>
+ More
Environment Agency fights
back in attack on alien invader
This Christmas, £50,000
project has started to save a stretch of
the River Wandle, which has fallen victim
to one of the most invasive plants in the
country – the floating pennywort.
Invasive pennywort weed
being exterminated from one of England’s
best loved rivers
A £50,000 project
is underway this Christmas to save a stretch
of the River Wandle, which has fallen victim
to one of the most invasive plants in the
country – the floating pennywort.
The floating weed can
grow up to 20cm a day and double its weight
in three days. Huge floating rafts of the
plant have become a common eyesore along
the river, suffocating the aquatic life
in it and potentially increasing flood risk.
It is also extremely difficult to control
as it can grow from a single node and is
resistant to chemical control.
A crack team of contractors
closely supervised by Environment Agency’s
operations delivery team are now working
their way down the river from Carshalton
in Sutton to the River Wandle in Wandsworth.
The task involves hand-pulling and raking
all the pennywort out of the river near
the bank and using a small boat for deeper
sections.
Environment Agency Biodiversity
Officer Joanna Heisse said: “The Wandle
has suffered greatly in the past years with
floating pennywort. Non-native and invasive
plants are a real issue for our rivers and
the problem is likely to become worse with
climate change. Pennywort has been growing
extremely quickly in the Wandle and can
stop light getting into the water, reducing
oxygen which can have huge impacts on fish,
aquatic life and native plants.
"It can also form
blockages in the river in times of high
flows and increase the risk of flooding.
We are extremely keen to control and eradicate
it from the Wandle and are looking forward
to seeing the river look like its usual
self again.”
The cleanup will run
until late February 2009 and the Environment
Agency will continue to closely monitor
the River Wandle to ensure that any persistent
patches of pennywort are dealt with as soon
as possible. It is hoped that local groups
and volunteers will continue to help by
monitoring the river over the spring and
summer, reporting these to the Environment
Agency.
Theo Pike from the Wandle
Trust, a charity committed to improving
the ecology of the river, said: “Rapidly-spreading
invasive species like floating pennywort
are an increasing threat to restoration
plans for the River Wandle. So the Wandle
Trust is delighted to see the Environment
Agency taking the problem so seriously.
Committing resources to eradicating floating
pennywort from the catchment now, before
it really takes a hold, will make a major
difference to the Wandle's future sustainability
and biodiversity”.
Work is also ongoing
near the Rockland Broad to stop the alien
invader in its tracks on the River Yare
and on the River Waveney near Diss. In a
joint project with the Broads Authority,
excavators have dug out the bulk of the
nuisance plant and is now being followed
up by with pain staking task of removing
remaining fragments by hand as even tiny
fragments can root and re-grow.
The plant, native of
North America, is invading waterways largely
in southern England and Wales. Its appearance
at around 90 sites so far reported is likely
to have been as a result of escapes from
aquaria and garden ponds since the 11000s
when it escaped into the wild.
ENDS
NOTES FOR EDITORS
Floating pennywort (Hydrocotyle
ranunculoides) is a native of North America.
It was first brought to Britain in the 1980s
as a plant for tropical aquaria and garden
ponds and was first noted in the wild in
Essex in 1991. It escaped into the wild
in the early 11000s and is largely found
in Southern and Eastern England. It forms
large dense mats of vegetation which cover
rivers and wetlands and can grow from the
smallest shoot fragments.
It grows in the margins
of slow-flowing eutrophic water bodies (particularly
ditches, slow flowing dykes and lakes) and
forms dense, interwoven mats of vegetation.
These quickly cover the water surface interfering
with both the ecology and amenity uses of
the water body. These mats grow up to 15m
from the bank in a single season, with stem
growth rates of up to 20cm per day.
For more information about invasive alien
species visit: www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/wildlife/31350.aspx
+ More
Public urged to continue
recycling as market prices stabalise
The Environment Agency
and other Government bodies today urged
the public to continue to recycle throughout
the festive season, with evidence that prices
for materials have now stabalised
The Environment Agency,
Local Government Association (LGA) and Waste
& Resources Action Programme (WRAP)
today urged the public to continue recycling
during the festive season, with evidence
that prices for materials have stabilised.
While the downturn in
demand began in October, industry surveys
conducted this week by WRAP and the LGA,
along with Environment Agency figures on
applications to store recyclable materials,
indicates prices are stabilising - although
the market remains fragile.
WRAP surveyed 200 organisations,
including local authorities, waste management
companies, reprocessors and exporters, to
determine market confidence and prices before
Christmas. Although views were mixed, the
overall sentiment was that markets are recovering,
albeit not to previous price levels.
Liz Goodwin, CEO at
WRAP said: "Our market intelligence
suggests prices for recovered materials
are slowly stabilising and more materials
are now moving through the export market.
"A cross cutting
theme across all materials is that materials
of varying quality are attracting lower
prices because more effort and expense has
to go into sorting and cleaning them to
produce the equivalent of virgin raw material.
The positive result of this is that quality
material is more valuable. It is moving
at good volumes and generally has less trouble
finding end markets.
"The picture is
of a fragile but stable market, in which
materials are still moving.
"The overall picture
from the survey is that people can still
be confident in using the recycling service
provided by their local authority, as the
materials they put out are still being recycled.
Local Authorities will continue to provide
guidance to householders on which materials
can be recycled in their area."
A snapshot LGA survey,
also conducted this week, found 95% of local
authority services are continuing as normal
despite the fall in prices for recyclable
materials. Only 5% of local authorities
are having to store recyclable materials
for any longer than usual.
Cllr Paul Bettison,
Chairman of the LGA Environment Board, said:
"Local people deserve great credit
for boosting this country’s recycling rates
so dramatically in recent years. The economic
downturn has presented challenges to local
authorities, but the vast majority of recycling
services have been completely unaffected.
"The Christmas
period generates millions of tonnes of extra
rubbish, and it is vital that residents
continue to recycle as much of their waste
as possible. The alternative would be for
the rubbish to go into landfill, which is
expensive for the council taxpayer and damaging
to the environment."
During November, the
Environment Agency issued new guidance for
waste contactors, businesses and local authorities
on how to secure extra storage for recyclable
materials, should it be needed by during
this period of reduced demand.
Prior to the market
downturn, the Environment Agency averaged
just under 20 registrations per week, allowing
storage of low-risk recyclable materials
such as paper, cardboard, cans and plastic
in a secure place. In the four weeks after
issuing the new guidance, registrations
numbered 29, 27, 16 and most recently 13
in the week ending December 12th.
Environment Agency,
Head of Waste, Liz Parkes, said: "We
have tough but important targets to divert
waste from landfill; and waste operators,
businesses and local authorities all have
an important role to play to maintain recycling.
"We haven’t
seen any significant increase in the number
of registrations for the storage of recyclables.
But this guidance is will ensure the environment,
public health and the recyclability of materials
is not undermined."
